WTA MONEY ABOVE THE TABLE — WTA Tour officials this week said that player guarantees to show up at tournaments, which in the past have been under-the-table affairs, can now occur above the table. “As of January, all guarantees are legal at all levels of Sony Ericsson WTA Tour events,” WTA Tour Senior Vice-president of Competition and Member Relations Peter Johnston told the Sydney Morning Herald. “Prize money increased by 40 percent last year and we are confident that the players are playing the appropriate schedules, so now we have got that in place we can allow market forces to work themselves out. If tournaments do want to entice players to play their events, we are prepared to allow it.” — In other words, ‘we’re going to now allow what has been going on for the last 30 years.’

LET’S GET SHAHAR — From Voxy.co.nz contributing douche Chris Ford: “I support the actions of Global Peace and Justice Auckland in protesting the appearance of Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer at the ASB Tennis Open. I feel that they should be there to let the watching world know that there are New Zealanders who are opposed to the ongoing Israeli presence on Palestinian lands. They are rightly using Peer’s presence at the tournament to point out that we, amongst other Western nations, are continuing to welcome Israeli athletes at a time when their continued occupation of Palestine shows no sign of ending.” — So protesting athletes that have nothing to do with their country’s policies is the way to go? Protesting women athletes? Idiot. “For the whole week, again and again and again, I’ve been asked about it and hearing them calling me to go out of the tournament, it’s not a nice feeling and not comfortable,” Peer said of the protesters during the Auckland event. “I’m only 22 and to get those calls against me is not nice…but I am really proud of the way I handled it. Unfortunately I don’t only have to deal with the players but I also have to deal with politics stuff as well. If it is because of where I come from, that’s not fair. I have nothing to do with politics. I am just a tennis player and I want to enjoy the tour like the other players.”

LACKING INTEGRITY — The Tennis Integrity Unit has fined 24-yearold Russian Ekaterina Bychkova $5,000 and barred her from playing for 30 days once they found out she failed to report she was asked to provide inside information and throw matches by the Russian mafia (likely)…

BELGIAN WAFFLE RANKINGS — Kim Clijsters rose from 18 to No. 15 after winning Brisbane. Justine Henin is unranked as she hasn’t played the minimum number of tournaments, but after the Brisbane final and one tournament result would come in at No. 252.

DEALS — According to Bloomberg News, Maria Sharapova has extended her sponsorship agreement with Nike by eight years for $70 million…Fila has extended their clothing sponsorship with former No. 1 Belgian Kim Clijsters.

WATCH OUT FOR MY EXPLODING HEAD — Serena Williams on keeping the No. 1 ranking in 2010: “I don’t think about it a lot. I’ve got a lot on my plate. Everyone assumes that I’m No. 1 anyway.”

DON’T BAN ME — Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova on countrywoman Ekaterina Bychkova being fined $5,000 and banned from playing the tour for 30 days for failing to report she was approached by gamblers, and being unclear on the WTA/Tennis Integrity Unit rules: “I don’t know exactly what has happened with her and I will ask and find out more…If you have been approached before and now come forward and tell them will they ban you? And if you don’t come forward will they ban you? We need to be clear. How do you know if someone approaches me and it is a joke?…Do I have to tell the WTA every time I get told a joke? They can send you a letter, fan mail, Facebook and you may not pay much attention to it and maybe it is people trying to catch you and doing it on purpose. It could happen and you could be not guilty.”

DJOKOVIC TO THROW WEIGHT AROUND — Novak Djokovic says he will leverage his position on the ATP Player Council in 2010 to create a longer off-season for the men: “It’s important that people understand how we feel. The season is too long, four or five weeks before the start of a new season is so little. We need at least two months at a minimum, we’re trying to fight for player rights.”

I never quite understood why they just didnt have a mens and womens yr end championships like right after the us open?!? mid october? that would increase the offseason, to allow the big players up there to get more practice time, or time to heal from some injuries. OR could always change the season to jan.. ozz, february/march clay/fo, april – wimby, may- us open and than have yr end champ in june.. and than rest off season?? that would be 6 months of offseason. might even see better play.
That would probably be going against tradition and all the grind which makes pro tennis enjoyable to watch lol seeing who drops first from overplay or who gets better as the year goes on.

Ljubicic isn’t much of a challenge for the top players but he’s not a bad measure, either. Del Potro handled him with little trouble and looks as ready as a 21 yr old can look to take over the tennis world.

Djokovic played particularly well. Haas is no slouch and won their last 2 encounters but what I liked most is that Djokovic looked like he knew he was the better player. Something he lacked against a lot of the top players last year was that confidence. But both him and Del Potro are looking good. Interestingly enough, Del Potro has never beaten Djokovic…

Oh crap I missed Nole! I wanted to see his match but had to take my son to piano. It sounds like he played well; I was wondering how he’d fare versus Haas considering their past meetings, but glad to hear he stepped up. Mind you this is hard court, not grass. But who cares? : ) What was the final score?

Also happy to see the gentle giant continue to impress. It’s going to be a fun season!

I do wish they’d shorten it though. KillerC’s idea is decent; maybe a bit later, like end October/early November WTF. So they’d get basically 2 months off.

If the players make WTF they can’t really have 2 months vacation. Unless they skip some of the other events, like both Fed / Murray skipping the Asian swing this year (Murray due to injury; Fed to fatigue). They have maybe about 1 month – December. Which is probably spent catching up with family, etc. A lot of them are already training immediately after Christmas / holidays. The first slam is mid January and most play one warm up event. So there’s not a lot of down time. It is a long season. If they could shave a couple of weeks off, why not? It might cut down on injuries and result in a more tightly contested YEC/WTF.

Okay the format of the Kooyong Classic is a bit confusing. It’s a hybrid between round robin and single elimination. Just like single elimination, the winner is the player who wins all his matches. However, everyone plays 3 matches over the 4 days of the competition.

So at the end one player will have 3 wins (champ), three players will be 2 and 1 (runner up, 3rd place and 5th place), three players will be 1 and 2 (4th place, 6th place and 7th place) and one poor sap will have 3 losses (8th place). That is, no doubt, the best preparation for the Australian Open (hardy-har-har…)

In summary, Djokovic can still play del Potro in the final if they both win their next matches.

Oh, and by the way, the “round-up” ommitted an interesting story: that Djokovic is spear-heading an attempt to create a biennial World Cup of tennis, similar to the Ryder Cup, where the competition is held at one venue over 10 days, rather than multiple venues throughout the year, as is the Davis Cup.

MMT – wow, thanks. That is such a clear break down of how Kooyong plays out. Good to know, too, that Djoko is trying to ammalgate Davis Cup into something more “doable” for many of the players – i.e., a competition held at one place; one time.

I grew to understand Kooyong over the years but last night, the draw on their site showed that Djokovic and Del Potro were going to play each other today. They fixed it today and Djokovic is playing Verdasco. But that’s a weird mistake on the site.

Jane, here are some interesting “clues” about Novak. Looks like he won’t be acting and it says where he’s been over the holidays. LOL I think high altitude training in the Alps is skiiing. Heard he is great on the slopes.
___________________________________
Meanwhile, Djokovic’s meticulous physical regime rolls on, with his first hit-out at Melbourne’s invitational Kooyong Classic this week following a fitness camp in the Middle East and 10 days of high-altitude training in the Italian Alps.

Hi fans! Keep your fingers crosses for “Little Laura” first qualifying match today. It’s gonna be tough.
jane: on reflection I think Andy was always just going to do an exhib. Did someone say he was injured? Oh no, not again.

margot: Re Murray injured….Those are rumors only. If Murray was injured you could hear it all over BBC..I go there everyday and nothing was mentioned.

Funny, (I hope this is just a rumour too) I also read in some forums that Federer injured his wrist in davydenko match in Doha, I did not see the match but apparently he appeared to be holding his wrist/arm with a lot of pain during games.

Well, he has not said anything. For those who saw the match, is this true?

I’m also not here much this year. No time to blog ‘coz I’m too caught up with soccer/football!! I’m following everything football related; right now the Africa Cup of Nations. It’s the World Cup this yr, so everything in my sports world is gearing towards South Africa. :)) I laaaav tennis, BUT, the Olympics and World Cup football are sport’s holy grail for me.

HEATHER, if you ever read this, know that am massively jealous of you. lol.. I’m just assuming that anyone in SA will be equally excited about world cup. (If u’re not there, my bad, I’ve confused u with someone else)

For sure, I won’t follow Wimbledon ‘coz it’s right in the middle of real world-cup action. I really wonder which TV channels in any continent will carry it. So hardcore tennis enthusiasts better get their internet speeds to top gear ‘coz might only be rusty online streams present.

Kimmi:
“If Murray was injured you could hear it all over BBC..I go there everyday and nothing was mentioned”

True – once upon a time, we used to be updated on what Murray was had for dinner! But just in line with my world-cup craze, I believe this year, they’re not obsessing too much about him. At least I haven’t noticed it as much so far, or perhaps I’ve just grown immune to it. But I think if he wants to win wimbledon, it better be this year ‘coz the pressure from British media will be minimal….they’ll be busy obsessing over David Beckham & the rest of the English football team. So Murray, take your chance when you can breathe a little. (though I still won’t support you.) If not AO, then Wimby, ‘coz by USO, the pressure on him will be back full gear!

Off topic but tennis related. There have been many discussions about the importance of Davis Cup, whether it serves any purpose & of course, the age-old ‘why is fed skipping davis cup, blablabla…’. I this time, also Murray & Roddick for the top players. I wonder if the reactions among ‘fans’ have been as ignited as when Fel skips..am sure not as much. Double standards.

Anyway, seems like the players are also tired of the Davis Cup system & a part from a few (obviously, most notably team Spain), most other teams simply ‘don’t care’ that much about it. i.e. winning davis cup will never be anywhere near the league of a slam or even a masters.

So apparently a new system has been proposed, and according to Djokovic, the idea came from the player’s council; which tells me that the current Davis Cup system belongs to the stone age – ‘coz even the players (top & lower ranked) themselves are not too keen.

Still very early days, and probably nothing will change soon, but quite an interesting read & good to see the ‘Davis Cup debate’ from the players’ point of view.

Dick Enberg, for several years non-stop, has been an advocate of changing the Davis Cup format to a two-year, 10 day event. Additionally, some other commentators have voiced their sentiments in agreement with Dick.

The question to be asked though, how would DC for 10 days affect the season? Considering how much the Olympics threw it off a couple of years ago, what would happen if DC adopted the 10 day, every two years format? Many of the players complained then, I wonder what they’d do if that scenario were to transpire and/or adhered to as a permanent one. To me, it seems that there’s heightened interest presently by some players in making DC a priority, because of the points to be gained. I hope the interest is DC based and not for personal gain.

Been there. Its true about TV coverage during Wimbledon, especially in Europe and other countries where Soccer is big. I could be wrong but I don’t think North America will be affected; I don’t think they are too excited about the soccer.

I love Soccer too but it comes second to tennis anytime. Will definitely watch the World Cup. I am looking forward to the winter Olympics too..only one month to go…and it will be in Canada. YAY! We just hope there will be plenty of snow on those mountains.

Von: That sounds like a player’s problem, not ours. It’s hard to think of one other sport where an athlete just kinda signs up to be on an Olympic team. If professionals in other sports play on national teams, which complete around the globe, so can tennis players.

Someone needs to crack down on the top players just playing cash grabs instead of official tournaments. If the player’s continue with ditching offical events, including DC, in favor of playing their “I don’t care I’m just here for the money” tournaments, the sport will take another nosedive. It’s interesting that Federer reaches GOAT and the Swiss give the athlete of the year to a skier. I’m not knocking him. It’s more an example of a larger problem with the sport.

Mary: “Von: That sounds like a player’s problem, not ours. It’s hard to think of one other sport where an athlete just kinda signs up to be on an Olympic team.”

Yes, it’s the players’ problem, NOT ours. Also, you are correct in saying that other non-tennis professionals play around the globe, however, they play as a ‘team’ while tennis players compete on an ‘individual’ basis. Therein is the crux of the problem — individual vs. team. In the Olympics, the players are supposedly representing their country for Tennis, but when we think of it, I mean, really think about it, it’s more a personal gain for the player, than for their country, isn’t it?

“Someone needs to crack down on the top players just playing cash grabs instead of official tournaments.”

I read recently, the powers that be, are not happy about the the top players playing exhos for the ‘cash grabs’, and complaining about the length of the season.

Interesting news about Yanina Wickmayer. Due to the suspension at the end of the last year..apparently she missed the AO entry date December 7, so she could either play for wildcard or Qualifying. When her request for a wildcard was turned down, she had no option but to play the qualifying.

Poor girl. She is ranked 18 at the moment. I hope she does well here. Good luck to her.

Yes, Kimmi, poor girl. She ditches months of drug testing despite the info about how to report where you are being available in quite a few places. She got to go for all of this time without being tested, which may be part of the reason she did not get the wildcard. If Wickmayer and her crew weren’t so busy trying to pull a fast one, ms. cheater thang would not have this problem.

There’s plenty of women players that deserve to play, not her.

Von: I get what you are posting about the team vs. individual aspects. My thought is if they want to represent the flag in the Olympics they should play DC, especially since the national federations fund both.

“My thought is if they want to represent the flag in the Olympics they should play DC, especially since the national federations fund both.”

I get what you are saying also, but who is going to make DC mandatory and/or a pre-requisite for competiting in the Olympics? Only the players’ countries can make that happen. Are their respective countries willing to go that route and/or have the chutzpah to clamp down on their players? I doubt it! Further, it would have to be a collaboration of effort by the DC authorities, the respective countries, and the Olympics Committee. That’s a lot of people coming together in agreement. Ain’t gonna happen, Mary.

“I could be wrong but I don’t think North America will be affected; I don’t think they are too excited about the soccer.”

True Kimmi, North-America, especially the USA, seems to be an entire world of it’s own, with it’s own special sports to obsess. American football for example, am like ok, why not join the-rest-of-the-world rugby?

But I reckon that should the USA do something special at the world cup, who knows. I remember mid-last year when team USA beat Spain 2-0 at the Confederation cup semis, (an equivalent of some unknown 200th ranked player beating a Fed or Rafa in straight sets at a grandslam semi-final), it did cause a bit of a stir all over the football-world, and even a bit in the USA. Enough stir for the US president & whitehouse to send them special congratulations and all the political news pundits to give them a fair mention in their programs. lol. Then to cup it, they put a tough fight with Brazil(the Federer equivalent national team of football)in the final, and were it tennis, I’d be screaming ‘team USA chocked!’.'Coz they had been leading in the first half only to falter. Once Brazil won, my fellow football enthusiasts were like – “thank goodness the football gods have restored order after their funny joke – the world is now in perfect balance after an agonising 90 minute; otherwise I’d have quit watching football”. lol. (See the paralles? – how many times has someone claimed – ‘I quit watching tennis if xyz wins this or that tournament; especially when it’s a Fed or Rafa being beaten.)For me, after Spain was beaten, I was in too much in a state of shock that Brazil seemingly going down in the first half could not even register. Part of me was like, No way, and another wanted USA to win just for that spectacle of seeing a single miracle happen in my lifetime. lol. Oh, another parallel (That would have been like beating Rafa in Semis then leading Fed 2.5 sets-0 in the finals…much like Haas at the FO. But for a much lower ranked player…one who had to go through qualifiers! lol.)

So there’s hope yet for North America to join us in the football craze. Have fun watching the winter olympics. I can only hope they carry a few in my local TV. Hurray to sports! :D But I must now remember that this is a tennis forum, so let me behave before am kicked out. Though I’ve tried to draw parallels to make it fit into tennis.

Mary – I know how obsessed you are with doping in sports but that gives you NO RIGHT to refer to Vanina Wickmeyer as “ms. cheater thang” Obviously her missing the WADA test may have had an effect on the decision not to grant her a WC (even though she passed a tournament test during the same period) however, the AO grants a number of it’s WC’s to American’s and the USO reciprocates. The world is not black and white when it comes to doping, Mary.

Missing Tests for many,many months is Cheating. Wickmeyer is a cheater. It does not matter if she doped or not. IT is the reason she did not get the WC.

I didn’t bring up the subject. It gets silly watching people getting one over on you, but you keep on keeping on with your bad self.

Kimmi: These decisions, along with suspensions for other reasons, are made by legal tribunals. They are legal cases and decisions and as in many legal cases, people get off with it having nothing to do with what is really being reported. These cases actually have nothing to do with doping. The Hingis decision had nothing to do with doping; either did what’s his face’s decision. It’s all simply case and administrative law. Wickmayer and Malisse’s cases have to do with privacy, which became a problem for both after being suspended.
Sports law is actually interesting, esp. when it comes to international sports. I became interested after having to read the legal briefs etc. There’s many layers to these things.
It’s not reported on correctly by the tennis press because that would mean the tennis press would have to do actual work.

“Also, you are correct in saying that other non-tennis professionals play around the globe, however, they play as a ‘team’ while tennis players compete on an ‘individual’ basis. Therein is the crux of the problem — individual vs. team.”

This really depends on which sport tennis is being compared to. imo, it can only be compared to other individual sports. In athletics, i.e. the likes of Usain Bolt & the rest of the Carribeans, Tyson Gay & the rest of the Americans, Kenenisa Bekele & the rest of the African squad, etc (i.e. both sprints, middle distance & marathons) also compete on an individual basis. Just like in tennis, there is no sub when one is injured or not well. Also, just as in tennis, they are constantly travelling all over the world for this & that official events with intense practise in between.

The only difference is that in athletics, the individuals represent their country each time they race while the same is not true for tennis. Athletics also has the the tennis equivalent of money-grabbing exhos, the grand-prix events, where only the very top athletes are invited. But even in those, they still represent the country in addition to making their individual names big & gaining fame.

However, this is tennis’ choice. If they want to, they can hype up the nationality just like in athletics. The format is already present for tennis to do so – it’s the reason why the player’s nationality is put next to his name at the scoreboard when they’re playing. Tennis does not necessarily need Davis Cup to represent the country. This can be done even during grandslams & masters. A player wins, gets a massive flag and wraps it round themselves first then kiss the trophy later. It happens all the time in athletics. There is no need for teams for there to be national pride or to wait for special annual or biannual events to represent the country. I’m reminded of a certain Zimbabwean swimmer, Kirsty Coventry, who put her country on the map during the olympics all by herself & continues to do so in other ordinary swimming events.

So imo, the tennis-world has to decide whether it wants to attach national pride to tennis or not. Waiting for Davis cup & Olympic only to do so, or even the proposed biannual 10 day event is a bit hypocritical. It’s part of the reason why I do not blame any player for skipping davis cup. You can’t have national pride, then dump it the next. It should be a constant.

And even in the team sports like soccer/football, despite mixed nationalities playing for different clubs in different countries, we are still reminded of the player’s nationality & the achievements, e.g no matter what team David Beckham plays for, be it in America or Italy, any time he scores a goal, yes, the club team celebrates, but he is first & foremost thought of as a great English footballer before Los Angeles Galaxy or Milan player.(for those who know what am talking about! lol) The same goes to all those Brazilian champions playing in Spanish, Portuguese & Italian clubs. They are first & foremost Brazilian before the club-team. Only the very top, the Beckhams, Kakas, Zidanes, Ronaldos,Peles e.t.c of this world may be thought of as ‘individuals’ but I reckon that the individuality is still intricately attached to the Nation – impossible to separate one from the other…completely opposite to what we have in tennis with Federer & Nadal.

Tennis, time to pull up the socks in national pride! Though to be fair, it’s not the tennis-players fault. It’s the system that’s present – they found it like that. perhaps it’s what makes tennis TENNIS – no OTT nationalism, which also has it’s good aspects.

Mary” re Wickmayer, you seem to know more details about her case than me. What I see is, she was not caught doping. missing to log-in on her wherabouts is going against rules but not doping. apparently players have to tell where they will be 365 days in a year. I read an article where it talks about the rule being too demanding. And I agree..it sounds ridiculous. the same article said, they are looking at reviewing some of these rules.

Djoko lost, very bad. 6-1,6-2. verdasco waz great, he made some ridiculous shots.. but Djoko made too many errors.

Rezai nearly serve for the match at 6-3 5-3 but serena broke back and eventually took the set 7-5. 3rd set started with serena 2-0..rezai came back winning 3 straight game. we have a match. i am impressed with Rezai..hope she wins.

Quite the blow out by Verdasco! I missed the match Kimmi but thanks for posting the score. Was Verdasco fantastic, Djok crappy or both? Sounds like Fernando can “hear the drums” and is gunning for another deep run at the AO.

Mary – I disagree with you. She missed informing them of her whereabouts on 3 occasions (hence the suspension) – this does not make her a “cheater” – how friggin’ juvenile is that label?? Again in your world, all is black & white re: doping.

“IT is the reason she did not get the WC.” Really? You say that emphatically however you DON’T KNOW for sure unless you are on the AO WC committee. Are you? Truly Mary you should get a job with WADA as you are so incredibly obsessed with doping in sports. Give them a call why don’t you.

Thanks Kimmi, I get so confused with the time changes. So they’re a day ahead then. I have no idea what to think about Djoko’s chances now as I’ve missed both matches. It looks like Gonzalez beat Haas pretty handily, so maybe Haas isn’t playing that well, and thus I don’t know how much Djok’s win over Haas really means. This bad loss is definitely concerning though. Verdasco can definitely be dangerous – he took out Murray last year, and he played well at the USO, but Djok won the match there partly because Versdasco was injured. Anyhow – he’ll play either Tsonga or Delpo in the Kooyong final so that should be a revealing match (it’ll probably be Delpo; Tsonga’s never beaten him).

Verdasco maybe made 2 UE (exaggeration ofcourse) in that match; he was so clean and going for the lines too. apart from Verdasco making good shots, on long rallies Djoko was either hitting the net or long. He decided to go for broke in the final set, hitting hard on both wings but verdy was answering his shots..great defense I thought. Few rallies where Djoko could win easily but verdy made miraculous gets. Just incredible.

I agree it is a bad loss for Djoko, maybe he needed more matches, it was a risk he took to play only one tourney. But then it could all come out different in AO..Depending on the draw he could be OK, and also they are starting with low ranked player who could help them to pick to form slowly.

Federer had bad loses too..so we will see what happens. I like verdasco and i am glad he is playing well, the guy has great talent, he played great at WTF but unfortunately did not win the matches..those matches could have gone either way. He is coming this year with same form. He beat Gonzalez yesterday, though it was a more difficult match.

Roddick won Brisbane, so that’s bodes well for him; I thought Nadal looked good in the Doha matches I saw too. Fed wasn’t playing badly either. Murray had great flashes in the Hopman Cup match I saw, but then he went off. Delpo played well against Ljub but I haven’t see his other matches. So I’d say Nadal, Roddick and Davy look strong, Fed and Delpo maybe next? Then Djoko and Murray? Not sure if this sounds about right. I didn’t see Verdasco play but he seems to be in form.

Rumors of new and lingering injuries abound though: Tsonga’s wrist; Murray’s something? (margot posted a question about it earlier); Roddick’s knee; Fed’s wrist?; Soderling’s shoulder. I thought I read something is up with Monfils too, and of course Nalbandian pulled out.

Kimmi, worry not. I think I’ve now figured out Del.P. It is a self preservation thing. Remember skipping Cincinnati – though to be fair, that was also due to fatigue. But again, he didn’t want to make some shoulder mini-injury worse. He opted to rest to be optimal for USO.

Then post USO, the guy was literally injured throughout – this & that…shoulder, stomach tear & I don’t know what else. He went out rnd1 in each match he played, either due to being badly beaten, or retirement. Then the others, he skipped. But come the World Tour Final (2nd most important to a slam), the guy is ok & scaring the hell out of Fed.

So this ‘injury’, whatever it is, I wouldn’t be too worried. I’m not saying he’s faking it, but I think that if something is troubling him, even if it’s something small that he can play through, he is making the smart move to pull out, not make it worse & heal well before next week.

From BBC: “US Open champion Del Potro pulled out with a wrist problem, while the Swedish world number eight has an elbow injury.”

Re Monfils & other injuries: unfortunately, he’s always injured…especially close to slams. :(. I’m worried about Soderling’s though. That elbow has been troubling him for quite some time. Despite his good run last year, he did skip quite a number of events due to the elbow.

b.t.w Jane: “I get so confused with the time changes. So they’re a day ahead then.”

Remember this simple rule: From whichever part of the world you are standing, move to the East, you add time, move to the west, you subtract time. The more easterly or westerly the place is from your point of reference, the more hours you add or subtract. Useful for us tennis fanatics tagging along with players round the world from our computer & TV screens!

been there – thanks for the time tip. That helps a lot. I think what you say about Delpo makes sense too. He is preserving himself. Judging by some of the other post-match comments Djok made, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s doing the same. He also said things like “I just wanted a couple of practice matches, etc”, though he did say he hit “too many errors” and Verdasco “played well.” I’ll just wait and see what happens with these two at the AO.

Kimmi, players sometimes say weird or “strange” things in post match interviews. They can be defensive, especially after a loss. Djok should NOT have said that, and if he seriously thinks that way, then yikes for him! But I assume that might’ve been one of those “in the moment” comments. He does have a tendency to put his foot in his mouth at times. Anyhow, I hope he can learn to keep a calm perspective and positive mindset, maybe with the help of Martin.

been there: “he [Soderling] did skip quite a number of events due to the elbow.” True – I think it was the elbow that caused him to pull out of his home event in Sweden prior to the semis? Or he gave someone a walkover into the semis or final. Anyhow, it was surprising, and at the time I thought to myself that the injury must be serious, as most players love to win at home.

Kimmi Said: “Thanks MMT. I looked at the draw this morning and thought “i can’t understand it”. But your explanation is so clear. So delpo and Djoko match could happen in the semi final. I hope it does.”

Actually, del Potro and Djokovic could only have played each other in a 3rd match – either the final or 3rd place match.

However, with withdrawals, it appear Tsonga will play Ljubicic – and it appears he’s now in the loser’s bracket. So I too am thoroughly confused.

Kimmi Said: “Thanks MMT. I looked at the draw this morning and thought “i can’t understand it”. But your explanation is so clear. So delpo and Djoko match could happen in the semi final. I hope it does.”

Actually, del Potro and Djokovic could only have played each other in a 3rd match – either the final or 3rd place match.

However, with withdrawals, it appears Tsonga will play Ljubicic – and it appears he’s now in the loser’s bracket. So I too am thoroughly confused.

A. Well, I’m going to slow down a little bit with the pace,with the rhythm. We are going to try to work on some specifics and maybe get some practice sets in next couple of days with some of the players, and that’s it, you know;try to save the energy and then build up, you know, a good
mental condition for first round?

I dont think the injuries re: delpo and soderling are “serious”. Here is something from Martin Boulton:

Meanwhile, the cotton-wool approach that the highly ranked players increasingly display before the Australian Open has led to two of the Open’s top eight seeds withdraw from the Kooyong lead-in with apparently minor ailments.

The winner of the most-recent grand slam title, 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro, and 2009 French Open finalist Robin Soderling withdrew from Kooyong’s Classic yesterday with a wrist and elbow injury respectively, forcing organisers of the eight-man event to reshuffle remaining matches.

It was clear, however, that both Del Potro and Soderling were merely being cautious with their bodies and unless there was a further aggravation at the weekend, there seemed little chance that either would miss the Australian Open. Del Potro practised yesterday morning, withdrawing some hours later.

Soderling, the eighth-ranked player in the world, pulled out of his match against Ivan Ljubicic after losing the first set (6-4), due to a sore elbow – an injury that the Swede said had troubled him ”on and off” for six months, having first surfaced at Wimbledon last year. ”Today, I felt it a little bit more, so I didn’t want to take any risks,” he said.

Del Potro, seeded fourth and one of the favourites to win the Australian Open (he is behind only Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in betting) was likewise playing it safe with his wrist.

sar, thanks for all the links on where Novak is at; I just saw the ones you posted yesterday. I am hoping he will have a really strong season so the loss to Verdy came as a bit of a shock, but putting it in context (i.e. exo) and reading about his efforts and focus makes me relax in terms of where he’s at.

Same with Murray; hopefully he will bring his best stuff for the slams.

Often these guys have “peaked” for the smaller events, winning a lot of 3 setters, and than hasn’t always worked out for them at the slams. So maybe there’s some re-prioritizing going on.

The field is *SO DEEP* right now it seems – many contenders and dark horses.

Not long now – (I meant to say). I think the draw comes out 11pm GMT? Look forward to discussing the draw with all you guys tomorrow.

Jane,

dont worry about novak – he was the player that played the most matches this year – he’s tired – shouldnt perhaps have played Kooyong – but at least he’s got an “enforced rest” now which probably do him good.

Re Soderling: Jane@ 10am, you are right. This is what I’ve dug out from wiki:
[Early in the season, before way before FO, it says: “Despite playing well and winning the challenger Sunrise, Söderling suffered from injuries mixed with poor results for over two months.”

Then after FO, when Soderling became a biggish name: “Söderling started at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic but had to pull out in the quarterfinals due to an elbow injury which forced Söderling to withdraw from the 2009 Rogers Cup as well. Returning to the scene at 2009 Cincinnati Masters, he lost in the first round to Lleyton Hewitt.”

And it continued: “Söderling was the no.1 seed at the Stockholm Open but due to an elbow injury had to retire in the semi-finals. Though not a serious injury, Söderling retired from the 2009 Valencia Open 500 tournament as well”]
————————————————————————————————-
From BBC, Soderling’s is a case of tendinitis but seems like he’s figured out a way of managing it – rest. Tough but it’s the only way to manage tendinitis. The article Is not all about Sod – just bits & pieces of what’s going on down under.http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/8458395.stm

So that means in the 2nd half of the season, after FO, he either retired from or skipped four events. It is for reasons such as these that I think the whole Nadal injuries has been taken OTT – now seven months on. Simply because other players also suffer them, and when they come back, they also take time to find their games, confidence, etc. Davy was injured at the beginning of last year, skipped AO – like who cares. Roddick was sidelined end of last yr – who cares how him not playing in WTF affects his ranking points. I won’t even go into the likes of Monfils, Haas, Tsonga injury woes ‘coz these players are non-existent! I suppose if it’s not a Rafa, (or Fed for that matter now his body is very slowly catching up with him), it doesn’t matter. Double standards in tennis. When other top15s are being destroyed on a tennis court 6-0, 6-2..whatever, no one says: ‘oh, Soderling, Tsonga, etc is recovering from injury’ but when it a Rafa or Fed, it’s constant injury talk – no matter how small that injury is, real or imagined. Lol.

But credit to Fed for keeping so super fit for so long. Don’t know how he’s done it. It’s quite amazing. Djokovic is still young, so perhaps it’s not right for me to compare him to Fed’s overall fitness legacy, but so far, in terms of keeping injury free, I think he’s doing quite well.

been there, it’s true, and perhaps it’s simply because the top ten or so players have a larger – or more vocal – fan base so we tend to hear more about them in terms of losses, injuries, excuses, explanations and so forth. The top five even more than the top ten in general, and the top two most of all!!

Djok’s really flexible and seems to have a pretty “balanced physique” if you know what I mean (i.e, not super tall and/or muscular or big/small boned, etc – pretty average as far as tennis builds go) so maybe that’s why he’s been able to stay injury free. But of course he’s had the breathing/fitness issues, and yes, he is quite young.

By contrast, Delpo, being quite tall, may take extra caution with injuries as he knows how costly they can be?

I suppose some of this is down to basic genetics too. Luck of the draw and all…

jane:”Kimmi, players sometimes say weird or “strange” things in post match interviews. They can be defensive, especially after a loss.”

It was definetly not a very positive statement, it sounded like he did not care at all. I hope you are right that he did not mean it..but as you say, it is an exho..but stll verdasco will gain confidence when he play Novak again, just like Soderling against Federer.

Been there: those are series of pull outs for soderling. Now that you put it down on paper, It is quite a lot. I hope he is good enough to play well like US Open ( i enjoyed his match with federer..nerve racking)..he can make AO very interesting.

AO site, I think is steaming the draw live. I will see if I am able to watch. Only one hour to go.

Jane and Been there- I was watching him warm up at Cincy before practice. His physio was out there moving him around like a pretzel and he wasn’t complaining, just doing the contortionist moves that I could never do in my lifetime. I also noticed them doing exercises that pull out/stretch out/expand the upper chest; diaphragm/lung area. Amazing.

Djokovic avoided his nemesis in his draw…Robredo..I don’t think so. Maybe one of Gasquet/Youzhny might pose a challenge. Gasquet is having a good run in Sydney..he is in the semi..great effort for him. Maybe he is starting to gain his form.

I think Djoko can handle Soderling over 5 sets (?) but I am less sure about Tsonga, only because I haven’t seen them play in a while and Tsonga has beaten (though again those wins were over 3 sets). Murray has Melzer, who has troubled him in the past, so hopefully he is in top form; I would love to see a Rafa/Murray quarterfinal. Fed’s draw should be negotiable, no real threats over 5 sets I don’t think. Unless Simon is in great form, or Davydenko? Roddick/Delpo have some tough ones, but I hope that quarter final comes to pass too. So exciting!!

Still haven’t gotten around to looking at the women’s – -what did you think of it Kimmi?

I skim thru Justine/Kim and Serena. Kim and justine are in the bottom half. Justine plays demantieva in second round and could meet Kim in qtrs.

Kim gers Kutzy in Rd16..Kutzy has been struggling beging of the year.

The other qtr at the bottom, Safina and sharapova in R16. then bartoli and JJ..I see Sharapova going thru here.

Bottom half is loaded with good players.

Serena..oh dear..she is laughing. She gets stotur who is struggling, Ivanovic who is struggling, Zvonareva who retired in sydney due to injury. And azarenka who was beaten soundly yeasterday by demantieva.

another top qtr is venus/radwanska/Na Li/Wozniacki. No one can beat serena here.

Good you put a question mark there. Since we have heard about soderling injury, I don’t know how he will turn up but if the soderling who play Federer in the US open turn up..he was ready to take fed to 5th set with no problems…

Kimmi – you said “Djokovic avoided his nemesis in his draw…Robredo” now you are saying that you only said “I said Djoko gets robredo”. Hmmm – not exactly what you said. “I don’t think he can trouble him’ Yeah, no shit. That’s was my point.

I have not seen the draw so can’t say as to Nole’s chances up to a specific round however he obviously is a contender in Oz.

Kimmi thanks for your take on the women’s draw. Will look at it later on. Djoko has handled Soderling fairly well in their matches and I think at the WTF Djok was spent, so I feel on the confident side about that match. Djok has a 5-1 record with Sod. But, who knows? Just will have to wait and see…